Terrorists could use drone bombs, warn UK experts

Updated: Monday, January 11, 2016, 23:37 [IST]

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London, Jan 11: Commercially available drones could be used by terrorists including the Islamic State to attack nuclear power stations, major events like the G7 summit or even the Prime Minister's car, a new UK report has warned.

The Remote Control Project hosted by leading security thinktank Oxford Research Group looked at more than 200 drones and concluded that they will be used as "simple, affordable and effective airborne improvised explosive devices," The Guardian reported.

"The UK government, police, military and security services will need to introduce countermeasures to reduce or mitigate the risk of commercially available drones being used for attack," the experts warned.

"The technology of remote-control warfare is impossible to control," the 'Hostile Use of Drones by Non-State Actors Against British Targets' report added. "The use of drones for surveillance and attack is no longer the purview of state militaries alone.

A range of terrorist, insurgent, criminal, corporate and activist groups have already shown their desire and ability to use drones against British targets," said Chris Abbott, the lead author of the report and visiting research fellow at Bradford University's School of Social and International Studies.

"Drones are a game changer in the wrong hands. The government needs to take this threat seriously and commit to a range of countermeasures that still allow for legitimate commercial and personal use."

Recommended counter measures include licensing drones, laser systems to protect targets, radio-frequency jammers, and clear guidance for the police and the army to shoot down hostile drones.

The report pointed out that the Islamic State (IS) is already using drones for reconnaissance in Iraq and Syria. "Islamic State is reportedly obsessed with launching a synchronised multi-drone attack on large numbers of people in order to recreate the horrors of 9/11," it noted.